Doing all I Can
by familyofthieves
Summary: There wasn't anything she wouldn't do for her son.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: This is just a little AU that popped into my head while reading this show. Right now its a one shot, but if I get the inspiration I might continue on.

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><p>It had been another long night of work and I was glad to finally be home. As I stepped through the doorway I slipped off my heels glad to finally be out of them. I quietly walked farther into the apartment, I was unsure of what the scene would be when I entered the living room.<p>

"How was he?" I asked Sally, the latest in teenage babysitters I had hired.

"Perfect as usual. He did finish all of his homework after school and we ordered in pizza for dinner. He tried to stay up as late as possible, but I forced him into bed about an hour ago."

"Glad to hear it, thank you so much." I reached into my purse and pulled out the cash that I had laid aside for Sally.

I walked her to the front door and was saying my final goodbyes when Sally turned to me one last time.

"There is a note in his homework folder from his teacher, I didn't get a chance to read it so I am not sure what it is about."

"Thanks for letting me know." I tried hard not to sigh, I knew what that note was about.

We said our final goodbyes and I watched as Sally got onto the elevator before closing the door and locking it. I quickly headed off towards his bedrooms and quietly pushed the door open. The light in the hall was enough to illuminate my sleeping son. He looked so perfect and peaceful as he slept, not at all troubled like I knew he really was.

I didn't have the heart to wake him, but I knew I would hear about it in the morning if I didn't. So I quietly walked into the room and straight towards the bed.

"Henry." I whispered into his hear and gently rubbed his back. All I got in response was a moan. "Come on Henry wake up."

Slowly my son opened his eyes and blearily looked at me.

"Mom?" He asked blinking rapidly as he fought to stay awake and focused.

"Hey kid, sorry I got home so late."

"It's okay. I tried really hard to stay up, but Sally made me go to bed."

"And she was right to do so, it's a school night and you need your sleep. But if you aren't too tired I have a cupcake waiting for us."

"I'm not tired." I laughed as he sprung out of bed and headed straight towards the kitchen. How I wished I had that much energy and excitement.

I followed closely behind him and watched as he carefully pulled out the single cupcake and placed it on the counter. Next he headed for the drawer and pulled out the candles and matches. He finally completed the tradition by sticking one blue star candle into the cupcake and handing me the matches with a big smile on his face. I smiled back at him as I accepted his offer. I knew he probably could light the single candle himself, but it was always better to be safe then sorry.

"Make a wish mom." Henry reminded me.

I smiled at how cute he was. I thought hard about my wish. There really wasn't anything I wanted. I had a good paying job that I enjoyed, a nice apartment, and a wonderful son. What else could a girl raised in the foster system want?

I looked at my son again for inspiration. He was my world and there wasn't anything I wouldn't do for him. All I wanted was for him to be happy and to ease whatever was going on inside his mind. And there was my wish, for my son to find the answers he was looking for,

I closed my eyes and said my wish one more time before blowing out the candle. I opened them to see my son clapping with an even bigger smile on his face.

"Happy Birthday mom!" Henry cheered and threw his arms around me.

"Thanks kid." I pulled him in even closer and gave him a kiss on the head.

"So what did you wish for?" he gave me his best mischievous grin, which often meant trouble.

"I can't tell you or else it won't come true." I reminded him and playfully poked at his sides until he erupted into a fit of giggles.

Once Henry calmed down I carefully split the cupcake in half. It was the perfect way to end a crummy evening.

"Anything interesting happen today?" I asked.

"Not really, school was boring as usual. Though I am getting to a good part in my book. Maybe you can read it to me tonight." He asked hopefully.

I held back a sigh at the mention of the book. It was the route of all my son's problems. If he had never found it I wouldn't be getting those notes in Henry's homework folders and constant calls from his teacher.

"Maybe." I said back trying to give him a stern look, though I knew it was a losing battle. I could never say no to my son.

"Can I at least sleep with you tonight?"

I pretended to let out an exasperated sigh. "Fine, but you have to brush your teeth first."

"But I already brushed them." Henry whined.

"Yes and you just ate a cupcake. Now go."

Henry let out a sigh, similar to the one I gave him a moment ago, and then stomped off towards the bathroom. It was scary sometimes how much he was like me. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing, and at least he wasn't anything like his father. I just needed to remember to be careful about my actions; I wanted him to stay the sweet boy that he was.

After I cleaned up the cupcake wrapper and box and I headed towards my bedroom. The first thing I saw when I stepped inside was that stupid book in the middle of my bed, there was no way I was getting out of story time tonight.

I got ready in my bathroom and when I came back out Henry was already under the covers with the book open to the correct page. I got into bed with him and pulled my son in close. Even though I didn't enjoy reading the book, I did love how close we were in these moments. I wasn't sure how many I would have left with him, so I made sure to take advantage of the ones I had now.

"So what are we reading about tonight?"

"Prince Charming and Snow White are about the go talk to Rumpelstiltskin."

I started to read the lasted adventure in fairy tale world getting lost in them just like my son. It was hard not to believe my son's tales, especially when I read that Snow White was going to name her daughter Emma. I would love to blame a curse on why my parents abandoned me on the side of the road. According the therapists, though, I was not allowed to think like that if I wanted to help my son.

I was about to start the next section when I looked over and saw Henry fast asleep on my shoulder. I closed the book and placed in on my nightstand. Once again I took a moment to watch my son sleep as I gently ran my fingers through his hair. As old as he tried to act he was still a ten-year-old boy. All I wanted was from him not to have to grow up as fast as I had to, but it seemed like his school had other ideas.

I knew I wouldn't get to sleep until I read the latest note from Henry's teacher. I gave him a final kiss on the head and carefully pulled my arm out from under his head and placed it down onto of a pillow. I turned out the bedside lamp and walked back into the kitchen.

I pulled out Henry's homework folder from his backpack and saw the note that Sally had told me about earlier. With a sigh I tore it open and read the latest on my son's condition.

I didn't see what the big deal was. The kid had a large overactive imagination and was probably bored in class because school was too easy for him. The teachers and countless therapists said differently though, that what he was dreaming was not age appropriate for him and the sooner we got him back to reality the better.

I hated having to squash my son's dreams even if they were a little too real for my taste. He would out grow it in time, and of course he would hopefully lose that stupid book. I'm not even sure how he got his hands on it. But one day he came home with it and the next he was spewing stories about how I was the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming. I tried to tell him that it wasn't true, but he just kept gathering up more evidence to argue his case.

I glanced over the note, really it was just more of the same about Henry's "obsession" with this cured fairytale world and how I was the savior and we had to go and find it. I threw it away without a second glance.

I knew it was best not to argue with the teacher, I had learned that lesson the hard way, and headed over to the computer to find Henry a new therapist. I had lost track of how many we had gone through in a little over a year and I felt terrible putting the kid through this, but I knew if I wanted my son to be happy and to have his teachers off of my back I had no choice.

I hadn't been searching long when a new therapist's website popped up, Archie Hopper. I carefully screened the site and paid close attention to his credentials. At this point in the process I knew really well what would and wouldn't work for my son.

This Dr. Hopper seemed like a reputable man and might actually be able to help Henry. The only drawback was his location, Storybrooke, Maine. I was desperate though and was willing to do anything for my kid. Moving wasn't a big deal to us either, I knew we weren't going to stay in Boston for too much longer anyway.

I printed out the directions to the town and headed to Henry's room to start packing. I wanted to get a jump-start with this new therapist and see what he was all about. I would call the school in the morning and let them knew Henry was taking a sick day. School had never mattered much to me anyway and it wouldn't hurt the kid to miss a day or two.

Once I had Henry's bag packed I quietly entered my bedroom to grab my stuff.

"Mom, what are you doing?" I heard Henry mumble from behind me.

"Packing, you and I are going on a trip." I answered

"Really? Where?" That seemed to wake him up, which was a good thing since he was too big for me to carry him to the car.

"Pack your backpack and put on your jacket and shoes. I'll explain everything in the car."

Henry quickly jumped out of bed and followed my instructions. I chuckled to myself at my son's enthusiasm, he was always so eager for something new and would do anything I asked him to with little or no explanation. I wouldn't tell him the reason for the impromptu trip, not until the morning anyway. I didn't want to ruin his happiness and I didn't want to be sitting in a car for four hours with him mad at me.

Once I was all packed up I headed out into the kitchen to see Henry sitting at the counter with his backpack slung over his shoulder and that stupid book in his arms.

"Alright kid lets go." I said as I tossed him the keys to my car.

Henry jumped off of the chair and headed straight out the door. I picked up our two duffle bags and followed behind him.

When I got to my car Henry was already bouncing in the passenger seat. At least he had opened the trunk for me before he got in. I threw the bags inside, but before I closed it I pulled out my baby blanket.

I slide into the driver's seat and laid the blanket over my son's lap. Hopefully he would pass out quickly and sleep for the rest of the ride. The last thing I needed was a cranky ten year old meeting the new therapist. I wanted this to go as smoothly as possible, and I knew how important first impressions were.

"So where are we going?" Henry asked as he ran his fingers over the fabric of the blanket.

"Storybrooke, Maine." I answered

"Well then, Storybrooke here we come."

I glanced quickly at my son before saying, "Here we come." Then I turned on the car and we were off.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: Thank you all so much for the kind reviews, they really mean a lot to me. I did decide to continue on for one more chapter. I am still deciding what to do with the story because I do not want it to become just another re write of each episode. I might leave it as is, or make a bunch of one shot type chapters for it. We will see how much free time I have to write between work and school, and of course what these characters want.

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><p>I pulled into Storybrooke a little after midnight. Just like I had hoped Henry passed out less then 30 minutes into the ride and hadn't woken up since. I looked around the small town as I searched for a place to pull over for the night. It wasn't a very exciting place and the rain just made it dreary instead of quaint. I almost wished that the meeting tomorrow wouldn't go well so that Henry and I could find some place else to live. But I knew that wasn't fair. Henry came first and if this Dr. Hopper was the man we had been looking for then so be it.<p>

I finally found a spot to park my car far enough from the main street in town. Normally I would try and find some kind of hotel to stay at, but it was late and I was exhausted from work and the drive. I turned my car off and got into a comfortable position to sleep. In the morning Henry and I would come up with a plan of action, but for now we needed to rest up.

I had no idea how long I had been asleep for, but I woke up to someone knocking at my window. He looked like some sort of police officer.

"Can I help you?" I asked turning on my car so that I could roll down my window.

"May I ask what you are doing sleeping in your car?" the man asked me.

"You see my son and I…" I turned around to indicate Henry, but he was no longer in his seat. "Henry?" I called out starting to panic.

I quickly turned off my car and jump out. I called for the kid again. I was about to run off looking for him when I saw a woman walking holding my son's hand. I ran over to them and gathered him up in my arms.

"Henry what were you thinking. You know better then to run off like that." I scolded him.

"I'm sorry mom, I just really wanted to look around."

I was about to say something else when I was reminded that we had an audience by the woman clearing her throat.

"Thank you for finding my son." I said as politely as possible.

"You should watch your son better." She said coldly to me.

I was taken aback by this tone, what had I done to this woman? Henry was a curious ten-year-old boy, of course he wasn't going to think to tell me where he was going. And it was hard to keep my eye on him at all time when he never stops moving and thinking.

"I usually do, but he got a little too excited being in a new town and forgot the rules." I explained while biting my tongue not to say something rude back.

"You never did finish telling me what you are doing here?" I turned around and saw the cop standing next to us, I forgot he was there too.

"Why should I tell you two?" I asked.

"Because I am the mayor and it is my duty to know who comes into this town and if they are a threat." She said in the same cool tone as before.

"Fine if you must know we are here to see Dr. Hopper."

"Wait…a doctor." Henry looked up at me as he started to catch on to the reason for our trip. This is not at all how I wanted to tell him.

"What for?" the mayor asked again.

"That is private business between me and my son."

"Fine, but I am leaving Sheriff Graham to take you and your son there so you two can get to his office and not do anything tricky."

With those final words the mayor turned her back to us and walked off.

"So can you please direct us to where we can get something to eat before heading over to Dr. Hopper's office?" I asked Sheriff Graham using my polite voice once again.

"Sure just follow my car." He said, at least he was being nice.

I had to pull Henry back to the bug and force him inside.

"Look kid I'm sorry, but I got another note from your teacher. And then I found Dr. Hopper all by myself online last night. He looks really good." I tried to explain, though I knew it was useless.

"But why do I have to see him?" Henry asked with his puppy eyes.

"You know why kid, these dreams and stories aren't good for you."

"But they aren't dreams, they're real."

"Look I am not having this discussion with you now. We are going to see Dr. Hopper and if you don't like him well go home, end of story."

"Fine." Henry pouted.

I knew this fight wasn't over, it never was, but hopefully once I got some food in him he would be more complacent.

I signaled to Sheriff Graham that we were ready and followed him back into town. I looked around some more now that there was light out. It was disappointed to see that it still looked dreary.

"Mom what time is it?" Henry asked.

"9:30, why?"

"Cause that clock says its 8:15 and I don't think its moved since I got up."

"It's probably just old and the cogs are so rusted that they can't move."

I wasn't going to give Henry time to come up with some ridiculous reason as to why the clock was stuck. I found that usually worked best to keep his imagination in check.

The diner wasn't too far from where we spent the night and soon Sherriff Graham was pulling over to the side and parking his car.

"Thank you for leading us here. I think all I need to know now is where Dr. Hopper's office is." I said in my best voice. I wanted to get him away from us as soon as possible.

"It's just up the street in the big red building, you can't miss it."

"Thank you again." I grabbed Henry's hand and started to lead us into the diner.

"Wait, I don't think I caught your name."

"I'm Henry and this is my mom Emma. Do you want to have breakfast with us" So now Henry decided to open his big mouth.

Damn that kid was sneaky, always butting in before I had the chance to say no. I really did need to be more careful around him when I talked about work before he turned into a mini me.

"Sure I don't have to be back at the station anyway." Sherriff Graham shrugged.

The three of us walked into the diner and sat down at a booth in the back. It was nice to see that there was some life in this town. Though the town's people did not look thrilled to be here either.

"So how long have you live here Sherriff?" Henry asked.

"You know, I'm not sure. It feels like I've lived here my entire life though." The sheriff replied though looked confused as he answered the questions.

"How can you not know especially because you have an accent?"

"Henry be polite." I gently elbowed him and gave that look that meant trouble. I had raised him better; I had no idea where his manners were.

"Yeah I guess the accent my parents had just stuck."

I could see the cogs turning in Henry's head and I quickly ordered us breakfast before he could say anything else. Hopefully a large cup of hot chocolate with cinnamon and French toast would be enough to get him to drop whatever he was thinking.

The rest of breakfast pretty much went the same way. Henry kept trying to get Sherriff Graham to talk about his past; clearly I needed to rethink my distraction tactics with him. I'm not sure what was with the kid today. I knew he was curious child, but he usually knew when to stop. At least the sheriff humored the kid and answered his questions as best as he could.

When we were finished and said our final goodbyes Henry and I walked off in the direction of Dr. Hopper's office.

"Do I have to see him mom?" Henry begged one more time.

"Yes. I'm sorry, but maybe he can help. I know you don't want to see him and I wish I didn't have to send you to the shrink, but your teacher and school won't leave me alone." I explained to him, it was the same speech I had been giving him since day one.

Henry pouted and we walked the rest of the way in silence. At least it wasn't a far walk, I hated when the kid was mad at me. It was easy to find his office too, which was a plus. I was not in the mood to roam around the building to look for the guy.

"Come in." the voice inside said after I knocked on the door.

I turned the doorknob and pushed it, and Henry, inside of the office. I did a quick look around. So far so good, it actually looked like a psychiatrist's office and not a prison cell.

"Hi I'm Emma Swan. I sent you an e-mail last night explain our situation." I said holding out my hand, which he grasped and shook firmly.

"Yes I got a chance to look it over this morning. Which means you must be Henry." Dr. Hopper turned to my son and shook his hand as well.

"Hi." Was all that Henry managed to get out. While he usually wasn't a shy kid, see a new therapist brought out his clingy side. He wrapped his arms around me and I just rubbed his back hoping to calm his down.

"So Henry do you want to tell me what is going on?" Dr. Hopper asked.

The kid just shook his head and clung harder to me.

"You sure, because I would really like to hear about your stories and this book. They sound fascinating to me."

"They do?" This peaked Henry's interests as he started to pull away from me.

"Yeah your mom gave me a brief summary about what they are, but I am sure you can do a much better job of it."

Henry nodded his head and looked up at me for approval, I smiled down at him. So far things were going better then I had hoped they would.

"Ms. Swan would you mind leaving Henry and me alone for an hour or two. You could go check out the town or the elementary school." Dr. Hopper suggested.

"Of course." I smiled and then pulled Henry into a hug. "Be good." I whispered into his ear. While I was excited that we might have found a therapist, I was a little scared of what the kid could say.

I walked out of the office and headed back towards my car. I wasn't sure what I could do for an hour in this town. This was not like Boston where there were shops and parks to kill my time in. I don't think that I was ready to head into these stores just yet.

I decided to take Dr. Hopper's advice and head over to the elementary school. It looked as if we would be staying in this town and I might as well see where I would be sending the kid to school.

Once again it didn't take long to get to the school, it seemed like nothing was too far away from the main road. The elementary school looked exactly like every other one Henry and I had gone to.

I parked my car and headed inside towards the office. I might as well get the ball rolling on the paper work. It wouldn't hurt even if we did end of moving back to Boston.

"Hello can I help you?" A woman asked as I was looking around.

"Yes, I'm looking for the office. I want to get my son enrolled." I explained.

"Are you moving here?"

"Well we're thinking about it. I figured I might as well look around to see what I got us into. And the elementary school seemed like the most exciting place to start. There isn't much to do here is there?"

"Yeah, not much happens around here. I guess that's part of its charm. If you don't mind my asking what grade is your son in?"

"He's in fifth." I answered, though I'm not sure why I was being so open with her.

"Looks like he will be in my class then. I'm Mary Margret Blanchard. Why don't I show you around."

"Sure. And I'm Emma." I smiled at Ms. Blanchard and followed her down the hall. There was something about her that seemed familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on it.

We walked down the hallway and towards the classroom. It was eerily quiet, I knew the kids had to be in class now but there was usually some sort of noise.

"So what's your son's name?" Ms. Blanchard asked me once we got to her room.

"Henry." I answered a looked around. It looked like she tried hard to make this place more colorful and happy for the kids, but still struggled with the bleakness that was this town.

"That's a nice name. May I ask what made you decide to move?"

"We came to see Dr. Hopper. Henry has this book of fairy tales that he believes are true and it was starting to worry his teacher so we have come here to talk to a new therapist." I explained.

I really had no idea what had come over me now, I usually never told strangers about Henry's problems. Sure she would be my son's teacher and would learn about it anyway, but there was something that made me want her to understand his case better.

"Well Dr. Hopper is one of the best and I'm sure he'll be able to help your son. Though it sounds to me like he has a big imagination, and these stories are a way to channel it."

I looked at the teacher in shock. Was she actually agreeing with me? That had never happened with any of Henry's other teachers, and she hadn't even met the kid yet.

"That's what I thought, but his teachers kept tell me that it wasn't the case."

"I think it makes perfect sense that he is turning to a book. It's giving him an escape from the classroom."

I just nodded my head; I still couldn't believe what I was hearing.

"Well I better get going, I should go pick Henry up before he starts to spill our families dark secrets. And I still have to go fill out that paper work."

"Don't worry about it, I'll get them for you. Here give me your number and you can come pick them up later."

"Thank you." I said and programmed my number into her cell phone. "I'll see you later then."

"See you. And Emma, I hope you find what you are Henry are looking for." Ms. Blanchard waved and I turned around to go.

I got back into my car and drove to Dr. Hopper's office. Hopefully things were still going well in there. I looked at the clock tower to see how much time as back, forgetting that it was broken on 8:15. I couldn't help but wonder if there was significance in that time. But I shook my head at the idea, Henry's ideas were starting to rub off on me and that was not a good sign.

I parked my car in front of the office and headed inside. I knocked on the office door and opened it slightly. "Is it safe to come back?"

"Hi mom!" Henry said, with a smile on his face. That was a very good sign.

"So things are going well in here?" I asked and I couldn't help but smile as well.

"Yes very well. Henry why don't you go step outside so I can talk to your mom?"

Henry nodded and jumped off of the couch and headed out the door.

"So how was it really?" I asked getting nervous; I knew how things could change once kids were out of the room.

"Everything was fine. You have a great kid." Dr. Hopper said, and I let out a sigh of relief. "Though I can understand why you are concerned about his fantasies, they are very realistic. But I don't see the harm in them for now. I think in time they will start to fade away."

"So you don't think anything is wrong with him?"

"Nothing that he can't grow out of, and of course seeing me won't hurt either." Dr. Hopper laughed at the last part.

"Yeah that sounds perfect. Thank you so much Dr. Hopper." I smiled back at him.

"Please call me Archie, and I'll call you to set up the next appointment."

I smiled and bid Archie a final goodbye. For this first time since the whole book ordeal started I felt relieved. Of course that didn't last long as I headed out into the hallway to find that Henry had run off again. I needed to have a serious talk with him about his attitude when I found him.

I was ready to run back into Archie's office when I got a text from Ms. Blanchard about the files. I figured I might as well ask her where a ten-year-old boy would hide in this town; she was a teacher after all.

It didn't take long for her to reply back with three words, try the castle. I thought for a moment trying to think of what castle she could be talking about when I remembered where Henry and I had spent the night.

I quickly ran to my car and jumped inside. I speed all the way there until I saw the run down wooden castle Ms. Blanchard had been talking about, and of course Henry sitting on top of it. I quickly parked my car and got out running the rest of the way to my son.

"Geeze kid way to give me a heart attack." I gasped as I sat down next to him.

"Sorry mom, I didn't mean to. I just really wanted to see the town." Henry explained.

"Seems to be the theme of the day doesn't it." I gave him a stern look and he looked back at me sheepishly.

"This is the town you know." Henry said after a pause.

"What do you mean?" I asked even though I knew I shouldn't have.

"The town that's in my story, the one you are meant to save."

"Kid I'm not saving any towns."

"But you are. It all makes perfect sense. It's why Sherriff Graham and Dr. Hopper couldn't remember their past. It's why everyone looks so miserable and why the clock tower hasn't moved. You're meant to bring back the happy endings."

I wanted to believe him so badly, that this small town was the answer to all of our problems. But I knew I couldn't do that happy endings didn't come that easily in our world.

"Come on Henry lets go." I chose not to fight this battle, or at least not today. I jumped down off the castle and waited as Henry ran down the stairs. At least there were some things he was still too small to do.

"Go? Go where? We aren't leaving are we? I like really like Storybrooke and Dr. Hopper. I promise I'll be good and won't complain when I have to see him. Can't we just stay here for one week? Please?" He begged me, and I held back a laugh.

"Yes we are staying here. I don't know how long. We will see how your sessions with Dr. Hopper goes and if this town can stand us for that long." I smiled down at him.

Henry beamed up at me and threw his arms around my waste. I pulled him in close. I hoped it would always be this easy to make him happy.

"And don't think I forgot about you running away, twice. You and I are going to have a long talk tonight."

Henry's smiled faded and he looked down at his shoes. I hated punishing the kid, and normally I didn't have to. But I couldn't let him off the hook that easily for his behavior today.

I grabbed the kid's hand and squeezed it. When he finally looked up at me I gave him a small smile letting him know I wasn't too mad at him. Henry's smile grew once again and together we walked back to the car.

Henry and I spent the rest of the day looking around town, and of course heading over to Mary Margaret's apartment to pick up the paper work. Where she too was put through my kid's questioning, but she also did not seemed turned off by them. She even invited us to stay for dinner, which Henry was delighted about. Mary Margret then sent us on our way to the local inn, where I booked us a room for one week.

I was finishing getting ready for bed when I saw Henry looking out the window.

"Anything good out there kid?" I asked coming over and wrapping my arms around him.

"The clock moved." He pointed out.

Sure enough he was right as the clock read 8:16. We watched it for another two minutes as the minute had continued to move.

"Guess the cogs finally decided to work." I shrugged and pulled him away from the window.

"Or something like." Henry replied back giving me that mischievous smile.

I gave him a smirk back before I picked him up and threw him onto the bed. Together we landed in a fit of giggles for tonight we were not worried about a stupid book or curse. Once again it was just me and my son against the world and nothing was going to hold us back.

"Hey mom." Henry asked once we had called down and were under the covers.

"Yeah kid?" I asked turning my head to look at him.

"Will you read me a story?"


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: So instead of doing work like I should be doing, I decided to write a really long chapter for this story. I couldn't find a good place to cut it, so I apologize now for the length. Also for any mistakes because I really wanted to get this out tonight since I don't know when I will be on next**. **This brings me to my next topic, I am looking for a beta. I am really bad at reading over my own work and am worse at finding mistakes. So if you are interested or know someone who would be interested please let me know. Finally please let me know what you think, I love getting your reviews. I might do some more re writes to episodes, like this chapter, in the future. But those would only be for ones I think are important to the story. The rest are going to be more one shot type chapters that are mostly AU. If there are any episodes you really want me to write about please let know. Again thank you so much for reading this, I get so excited every time I get an e-mail alert! **

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><p>I searched through the paper for what felt like the hundredth time at the housing listings, or really lack there of. I wasn't trying to be picky either it was only recently that Henry and I got our own bedrooms. Even then the second bedroom ended up only being used to hold the kids' things since he ended up sleeping in my bed most nights.<p>

I didn't except to see a ton of listings in a small town like this, but I had expected there to be one or two places available. But there was nothing and it was becoming a serious problem.

"Emma?" I heard and looked up to see Mary standing at my car window.

I held up a finger to my lips and pointed to sleeping Henry. He fought with me tonight about going to sleep, but exhaustion won out in the end and he finally passed out a little over an hour ago. I quietly got out of my car so not to wake him.

"What are you doing out so late?" I asked.

"I was on a date." Mary answered

"Really?" I tried to hide my surprised face, but I don't think it worked.

"Yes teachers are allowed to go out every once and awhile, we do have lives. And what may I ask are you and Henry doing in your car?"

"Well he is finally sleeping and I am trying to find us a place to live. Though there are no listings."

"It must be the curse." We both laughed at this.

Henry had told Mary Margaret everything about his book and theories. He was coming up with more of them too. Just the other day he told me that Mary was Snow White aka my mother. I tried to explain to the kid that it wasn't possible since we're the same age, but he went on about how time has been frozen in town. The worst part was he told Mary, or at least half of it. I managed to stop him before he could blurt out the daughter part.

"So you and Henry are sleeping in your car?" Mary asked, at least she was just curious and not judging my decision.

"Yeah until I can find us a place. But it's not too bad we have lived in worse places." I answered honestly like I always did when I was talking to her.

"You know I have a spare bedroom in my apartment that you two are more then welcome to use."

"Thanks but I don't think you really want to live with a ten year old, you get enough of them at school. Besides I'm sure Regina would find something wrong with Henry living with his teacher, and we do not need that."

"Well the offer still stands if you change your mind."

With that Mary waved good-bye and headed home. I got back into my car and tried to get comfortable. I gave up on the search for tonight and would pick up where I left off in the morning.

* * *

><p>I was really starting to hate Storybrooke, or at least when Henry wasn't around. There was nothing to do in the town. I had grown tired of looking for a place too. There was nothing for us and unless someone moved or died within the next hour Henry and I would be living in my care indefinitely, or until I thought up another idea.<p>

At this moment I was waiting for Henry to come back from school. It had always been my favorite part of the day since he started kindergarten, but now more then ever. I leaned up against the bug and watched as kids started to run out of the building. Finally I saw my kid and waved him over. A smile lit up his face when he saw me and ran the rest of the way.

"How was school today?" I asked.

"Can we talk at the castle?" Henry asked back.

"Of course."

The castle had become a favorite spot of Henry's and mine. We were able to be alone without anyone from town overhearing our conversations and we were outside of the car, which was an added bonus. Once we got there Henry pulled his book out of his backpack, this meant trouble. I followed him out and onto the broken down equipment.

"So you never answered my question." I reminded him.

"We went to the hospital to decorate." Henry started.

"And how did that go." I prodded I knew there was going to be a catch.

"Really good, I found my grandfather."

"You mean…" and there was that catch.

"Your father, Prince Charming. He's been in a coma all this time."

"How do you know it was him?"

"See this scar." Henry opened his book to a picture of Prince Charming. "John Doe had the same one. Though his name isn't really John Doe, Ms. Blanchard told me that's what they call people they don't know who they are." Henry explained in one big breath.

"Glad to know you are learning something." I rolled my eyes; of course that's the thing he takes away at the end of the day. "And lots of people have scars."

"But it's in the exact same place."

"Okay so what if this man is Prince Charming. What do you plan to do with this new information?" I knew it was better to know the kid's ideas ahead of time before he started them.

"We have to tell Ms. Blanchard, she doesn't remember who he is."

"We can't just tell her that her soul mate is in a coma kid, that's giving her false hope which is way worse. Trust me I know."

"You do?" Henry looked up at me curiously; he always wanted to know more about my childhood.

"That's a story for another time kid." It was the same answer I gave him every time, he was still too young to hear some of the horror stories of my past.

"Fine, but we can't just give up. If we want to defeat the curse we need to tell Ms. Blanchard the truth."

I paused for a moment trying to think of my next step. I had to be clever since I knew Henry wasn't going to stop talking about this, and I did not want him blurting it out to Mary it would break her heart. Finally an idea struck me.

"Okay, but I'm going to be the one that tells her." I explained.

"Can we do it now?" Henry asked a smile on his face once again.

"I don't know if she is home from school yet kid."

"She is, trust me. It's a Friday, who wants to stay late on a Friday?"

"Well then we better get going." The kid's logic did make sense, so I couldn't find a reason to argue with him.

Henry's face lit up even more. He closed his book, got up from his spot, and ran down the stairs to my car. I laughed and slowly followed behind him both to annoy the kid and give Mary some extra time to get home if she needed it.

"Come on Mom." He whined.

"What's the rush? It's not like she is going anywhere, wasn't it you who said no one can leave Storybrooke?"

Henry pouted and I laughed even harder. I went to ruffle his hair, but he was quick to pull back, it was just too easy sometimes. I turned the car on and off we were to Mary's, a route I had come to know really well. When we got to her building Henry jumped out of the car as soon as I put it in park.

"Wait for me!" I shouted, afraid of what he might do if he went in without me.

The kid looked so much like me right now, with his arms crossed over his chest, waiting impatiently for me to join him at the door. When I caught up with him I grabbed his hand and together we walked inside. I even gave Henry the pleasure of knocking on her door.

"Hey guys come in." Mary said like she had been expecting us all along. "What are you two doing here?"

"My mom needs to talk to you." Henry blurted out.

"Nothing bad I promise." I quickly added when I saw the worry on her face. "Can I set Henry up at your desk to do his homework?"

"Of course. I was just about to make some hot chocolate, do you want some?"

"Yes please." Henry and I said at the same time, we could never say not to hot chocolate especially Mary's. She even shared the same habit of putting cinnamon in it.

While Mary got to work making the drinks I pulled Henry over to her desk and watched as he pulled his folder out.

"I do not want you eavesdropping." I warned him.

"I won't I promise." Henry replied, and I knew he meant it.

I watched him pull at an assignment and get to work, and then headed back into the kitchen to join Mary.

"So what did you need to talk about?" Mary asked when she saw me.

"Henry told me all about the trip to the hospital today and how he met a certain patient." I explained.

"You're talking about John Doe. I knew he shouldn't have gone in there."

"Don't worry I'm not bad, I know how much trouble that kid can be when he gets his mind on something. Anyway Henry wants you to read to John Doe."

"He wants me to read to a coma patient?" Mary asked and I laughed, it did sound a little ridiculous.

"The kid has gotten it into his head that you reading to this guy from his story book will wake him up and help him remember who is he."

"And who is he."

"Prince Charming." I answered, though I didn't want to tell her the truth.

"As in…my Prince Charming." She looked worried like I had expected her to do.

I nodded my head slowly. I had to carefully approach my next step so no one would get hurt.

"Look I know this seems crazy, but I think it could really help Henry. I have been trying to explain to him that his book is just stories, but if you actually read to John Doe…"

"And nothing happens then Henry will see that his book is just stories." Mary sighed finishing my thoughts. "Well then I guess I can't deny trying to help my student."

"Great." I smiled both glad that we were on the same page and that she did not get her feelings hurt.

Mary poured three large mugs of hot chocolate and made sure to put in extra cinnamon. I grabbed the third mug and brought it over to Henry where he was still doing his homework.

"Well?" He looked up at me hopefully.

"She said she would do it." I told the kid.

"I knew she would. Now Ms. Blanchard can get her happy ending back."

I just nodded my head and bit my tongue from saying anything else. I left the kid to finish his work, it was a lot easier to get him to do it at a desk then in the car.

"Would you guys like to stay for dinner?" Mary asked when I was back in the kitchen.

"I don't want to impose." I gave her my usual answer.

"Not at all I love having you two over. Plus you can help me get ready for my date." At least she was finding the humor in all of this.

"In that case of course we'll stay."

Henry and I had been staying at Mary Margaret's a lot for dinner since we moved to town. It was nice having a home cooked meal instead of Granny's. Henry loved it as well. He was always asking Mary questions about school and of course his theories. She humored him every time, or took a similar route as mine and teased the kid.

Dinner tonight was no exception, but with an added bouncing Henry over what was going to happen later tonight. Once we were finished eating and with the interrogation, Henry and I helped with the dishes and said our final goodnights to Mary.

"Do we have to sleep in the car Mom?" Henry whined when we left the apartment.

"Sorry kid I still haven't found us a place yet." I sighed hating that I had to give him that answer.

"How much longer till you do?"

"I wish I knew the answer to that kid."

Henry sighed, but willingly got into the car. I knew not having an actual bed was taking a toll on him. Even though he tried to hide it, I could tell he wanted out of the car. It actually made me think about Mary's offer the previous night. So far it was our only real option. But I don't think she knew what she would be getting into living with the two of us. We really needed a place of our own so not to disturb anybody. I drove us to our usual spot and got the kid ready for bed.

"I love you Mom." Henry told me.

"I love you too kid." I gave him a final kiss goodnight, I still felt guilty that I couldn't be tucking him into a real bed.

I watched him fall asleep and decided to go straight to bed myself. I was in no mood tonight to look at listings even though I knew I should. I didn't know how much longer Henry and I could take living in the bug.

* * *

><p>I woke up the next morning to Henry shaking me and shouting my mom, he had yet to master waking someone up gently.<p>

"What is it kid?" I asked really wanting to get back to sleep, but I had a feeling I wasn't going to do.

"We have to get to Granny's to talk to Ms. Blanchard." Henry explained.

"Right, what time is it?"

"A little after eight."

"It's too early kid, go back to sleep." I told him and rolled onto my side to do exactly that.

"But Mom, we have to go meet Ms. Blanchard." Henry continued on, it didn't look like I would be getting anymore sleep.

"Fine, we can go. But she might not even be there yet." I sighed and sat up. At least I could get some coffee at Granny's to wake me up.

Henry sat in his seat with a smug smile on his face; I had to be careful before he got too full of himself. I drove the short distance to Granny's and parked in front. Henry jumped out and ran into the diner, it was way too early for him to have this much energy. His smile wasn't as bright when I joined him inside; I put my arm around him and lead him to a booth in the back.

"I told she wouldn't be here yet kid, it's still too early." I explained wanting to get a smile back on his face again. "Why we don't we got some hot chocolate and food while we wait."

This seemed to perk him back up. We gave Ruby our usual orders and waited for both Mary and our food to arrive. It wasn't until we had finished eating when she walked into the diner.

"Don't get your hopes up kid." I reminded him as he started to bounce in his seat.

"I won't." He answered, though I knew he didn't mean it.

"He woke up." Mary said as soon as she took the empty spot next to Henry.

"What?" I asked shocked, this is not at all what I had expected her to say.

"Well he didn't wake up wake up, but he grabbed my hand and that has to mean something right?"

"Yeah it does. I told you reading to him would help him wake up. Now we have to get back to the hospital so you can finish reading to him." Henry chimed in.

"Right." Mary said and the two got out of the booth and headed towards the door.

"What?" My mind was having trouble trying to catch up to what just happened. "Mary you don't believe him do you?" I asked when I finally had my mind wrapped around things.

"Of course not. But something did happen last night, and I can't ignore it." she explained, at least I hadn't lost her to dark side.

I drove the three of us to the hospital with Mary giving me directions since I hadn't been there yet. Just like everything else it wasn't far away from the main drag and I probably could have found it myself if I didn't have to impatient people in the car. Both Henry and Mary quickly got out and went inside so fast that I had to run to catch up to them.

"He really is waking up." Henry said when we got to the ward where John Doe was.

I knew something wasn't right though and held the kid back from going forward. Sherriff Graham was there which usually meant something bad happened.

"What's going on?" Mary asked when she noticed all the commotion.

Graham turned around to face us, "John Doe escaped."

"Escape? What do you mean escaped? The man's been in a coma." I started to take charge of the situation to keep both Mary and Henry calm.

"That is what we are trying to figure out."

I was about to ask what he meant by we when Regina came into sight.

"What are you doing here Madame Mayor?" I asked not hiding the disgust in my voice.

"I'm the patient's emergency contact since I found him on the side of the road." She explained in that same pompous tone. "I don't think this is the best environment for your son Ms. Swan, I suggest you remove him from the premises before he sees something he shouldn't."

Before I could get another word in the mayor marched off. I hated how she judged the way I raised my son. Like she knew what was best for Henry, I bet she had never even been around children before in her life.

"Is he going to be alright?" Mary asked finally finding her voice.

"The man has been in a coma and on feeding tubs for a long time. If we don't find him soon I'm afraid he is not going to make it." Dr. Whale said honestly.

"So let's find him." Henry chimed in eager to help.

"No you kid are going to sit right here while we go look at the security tapes." I said firmly and lead him over to a nearby chair.

"But Mom…" Henry started, but I gave him one of my better 'listen to me' looks and that shut him up pretty quickly.

When I was sure he wasn't going to move all of the adults followed Dr. Whale to a back room where security was set up. There were two men already back there and I could tell that they were not good at their jobs.

"Where are the tapes from last night?" I asked not wasting time to be nice or giving Graham a chance to do his job. I was in my element here, finding missing people. In moments like these I knew exactly what needed to be said to get things done.

The one man yawned and pointed to a monitor. It looked like the ward where John Doe was kept, but something was off.

"Where are all of the decorations from Ms. Blanchard's class?" I asked once I realized what was wrong.

"You fell asleep again?" The other man accused.

"And where were you last night, drinking?" the first one shouted back.

"There is not time for arguing, we have a missing patient that we need to find. Where is the real tape from last night?" Graham interrupted.

The first man sighed and turned on the correct tape from last night. Sure enough there were all of the kid's decorations and John Doe walking out of the hospital as if he hadn't been lying in bed moments before.

"Where does that door lead?" I asked Graham

He paused before answering, "the woods."

That was not the answer I had been looking for, but it looks like we had no choice but to go there. Without another word we all left the office and headed back to where Henry was waiting.

"Do you know where he went?" He asked jumping out of his seat.

"He walked into the woods." I answered; I didn't see the point in lying to the kid. "I want you to go wait in the car." I said and tossed him my keys.

"But mom I want to help." He whined

"And you will help by waiting for us in the car. I don't need to be worried about you out there." I explained.

Henry just huffed and stomped out of the ward, and hopefully to my car. When he was out of sight Graham led us to the same door that John Doe had walked out of. It did lead straight to the woods. You couldn't tell that it was morning in here either it was so dark. Hopefully the search wouldn't take too long and we could get out of there fast.

Graham lead most of the way, I was out of my element in the woods. Mary Margaret must have caught on to this fact too.

"Not what you are used to when it comes to looking for people?" she asked me

"Yeah most of my people end up running off to places like Vegas." I shrugged. It probably would have been a smart idea to run into the woods to hide, but none of the people I had to look for were ever that smart.

"How did you end up with your job anyway? Were you trying to find your parents?"

I stopped shocked; I did not expect her to ask me that question. I racked my brain trying to remember when I told Mary about my parents, but I couldn't remember doing so.

"Henry told me." She explained as she saw me struggling to remember something that I had never done.

"Of course he did." I sighed, that little blabbermouth. It looked like I would be having another talk with him about private information.

Mary Margaret looked like she was going to ask another question, when we heard rustling in the trees. We both turned in shock and hope that it would be John Doe, but instead it was Henry.

"Kid what are you doing here? I told you to stay in the car." I was not happy with him right now and I wasn't afraid to show it.

"I know but I couldn't wait. I know I can help find him." He said putting on a brave face even though he knew how much trouble he was in.

"How can you help?" Mary asked intercepting me before I could scold Henry more.

"I know where he is, he's looking for you." He went on.

"Why would he be looking for me?"

"Because you woke him him." And there was that smug smile again; yeah the kid was not getting off the hook easily this time.

Mary looked at Henry in shock, but before she had a chance to say something back Graham was shouting. We all ran to where he was crouching in front of a plant, but more importantly a hospital ID bracelet with the name John Doe.

"Is that…?" Mary started

"Blood." I finished for her, this search was getting worse.

"See he's looking for you Ms. Blanchard, you have to stop looking and let him find you." Henry chimed in.

"Henry he is just confused, he's been asleep for a long tim." She said with a lot more patients then I had right now.

"Kid I suggest you stop talking before you get into anymore trouble." I explained to him, which quickly got him to shut his mouth.

The four of us continued our search for John Doe, which ended up leading us to the Toll Bridge. There was nowhere else to go, except into the river, so we stopped and looked around there. I was ready to give up when Mary shouted. I looked over to where he flashlight pointed, and sure enough there was John Doe lying in the rocks and water.

We all dropped our flashlights and ran to the man to get him out of the water was fast as possible. It was slow going, once we had him. He was pretty heavy for a guy who had been on feeding tubes for who knows how long. Mary set to work trying to wake him up once he was safely on land.

"Is he going to be okay?" I heard Henry ask.

"Don't look." I shouted and ran straight to my kid hiding his face in my stomach.

This was exactly why I didn't want him coming out here with us. He did not need to see a man, a man he thought was his grandfather, struggling to hold onto his life. I continued to hold Henry close to me as I watched Mary try her hardest to keep John Doe alive, though it looked like nothing was going to help him.

I was ready to tell her to give up when John Doe started coughing. I stood there in shock and lowered my hand from Henry's face, though I kept them wrapped around him.

"She did it, she woke him up." Henry sighed in relief.

"Yeah kid she did." Was all I could say back, I had not expected that to happen.

I pulled Henry to the side as the EMTs finally made their way through the woods. Mary joined us to the side as together we watched them put John Doe on a stretcher and carrying him back to the hospital. We followed close behind them; we needed to make sure that he was okay after that stint in the water.

Dr. Whale immediately got to work checking him over once they got him back into his hospital ward. All we could do was watch impatiently through the glass door. Everything was so silent that we jumped when a woman came barging through shouting the name David.

"Who is she?" Mary asked the question we were all thinking.

"His wife." We turned around in shock to see Regina standing behind us, she looked a little too happy to be telling us this piece of information.

"I thought he didn't have anybody?" Mary asked upset.

"Turns out his wife had been looking for him this entire time and it wasn't until now was I able to ease her mind and let him know that he has been here this entire time." Regina had that horrible smile on her face that I really would have liked to slap off. "Now that I have witnessed their happy reunion I can go and I suggest that you three do the same. We don't want to ruin their reunion."

Regina once again walked off getting the last word leaving me with a confused kid and a heartbroken woman. At least Dr. Whale was nice enough to come out and give us an update on John Doe, or I guess I should say David since that was the name his wife called him.

"How is he?" Mary asked.

"Physically he is fine, though his memory is another issue it make take time for him to remember. It really is a miracle." He answered, though it did little to ease Mary's mind.

I put my hand on her shoulder as together we watched the reunion of husband and wife, though it looked like David was just as confused as we were. I saw him look over at Mary and I knew it was time to get her out of there before she took any more pain.

"Do you need a ride home?" I offered.

"No I'll be fine, thanks though." She gave me a half smile; I knew she was far from fine.

"Let's go kid." I held out my hand for him to take, but instead he went to Mary.

"Don't believe them." Henry whispered to her, which did not ease her mind.

"Henry." Mary sighed.

"He was looking for you just like the end of the story."

"He went there because that was the last thing I read to him." I was amazed that she continued to be patient with him.

"No its because you belong together."

I knew that this was my moment to step in before Mary got hurt even more. I quickly grabbed Henry's hand and gave her a smile goodbye and dragged the kid out of the hospital. Even after the shock and heartbreak we had just been through I was not letting him off the hook that easily, and he knew it too. He was quiet the entire ride to the castle. I turned the car off and turned to face Henry, he just sunk further into his seat.

"Henry you need to start listening to me." I sighed; I really did hate having to do this.

"I know mom, and I'm really sorry but I had to help Ms. Blanchard." He tried to explain.

"I understand, but kid I am only looking out for you. I don't want anything bad to happen to you."

"I'm sorry." He said again, and I while I knew he meant it, there still needed to be consequences.

"You're grounded for two weeks, which means no book either." I finally decided.

"Mom you can't, what about…"

"I don't care about any of that right now Henry. The curse can wait two weeks for you to learn a lesson."

I saw the tears start to pool in his eyes, but Henry was quick to turn his back to me so I couldn't see him cry. I sighed and squeezed his shoulder before exiting the car. He needed to be alone right now to collect his feelings, and I had no problem giving that to him.

I sat at the castle where I had a good view of the bug in case Henry needed me and got to work searching the listings another time. But my mind kept wandering back to Mary. I had never seen her look so defeated before, she really had believed Henry in that moment and all it did was bring her pain.

I knew what I had to do. I jumped off of the castle and walked back to the car surprising Henry as I turned it on and started driving.

"Where are we going?" He asked his curiosity beating out his anger for me.

"Getting us a place to live." I answered and drove before I changed my mind.

I parked my car in front of Mary's building and got out. Henry followed behind, though he was still confused about what was going on. Together we walked up the stairs and I knocked on her door.

"Emma, Henry." Mary said when she opened the door.

"Hey, um sorry to bother you. But we were wondering if that spare room was still available." I explained.

Henry looked up at me; a smile finally on his face since this ordeal began.

"Of course." Mary gave us a real smile as well, and I knew I had made the right decision.

She let us into the apartment and up into the loft where the spare room was. I looked around inspecting the place; it looked exactly like something Mary would have as a spare room.

"Sorry there is only one bed. We can get you another one if you want."

"No it's perfect, we're used to sharing a bed right kid?" I looked down at Henry.

He nodded his head in agreement. "It's perfect Ms. Blanchard. Thank you."

"It is no trouble at all."


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: This is just a short tag to the last chapter. Thank you again for all of your kind words. It really means a lot to me when I see how many people are reading this story. **

* * *

><p>I opened my eyes and looked around the room, this was not the inside of my bug. It took me a moment to remember that I was in Mary Margaret's apartment, correction our new home. I sat up and stretched. It had been great to sleep in an actual bed and not the driver seat of my car. I looked over to my right, Henry was still fast asleep. I guess he needed a full nights rest in an actual bed too. While I had originally not wanted to intrude on Mary I knew this was what Henry needed. I couldn't make him sleep in my car the rest of our time in Storybrooke, that plus the look on Mary's face when I asked her about the spare room. This would be the perfect distraction to help keep her mind off of David.<p>

I pushed myself out of bed reluctant to get up, but I knew I had to start the day. Before I left the room I straightened the covers around Henry, I was in no rush to wake him up. With one final look at my son I grabbed his book and headed downstairs. Mary was already in the kitchen sitting at the counter.

"Good morning. Did you sleep alright?" Mary asked when she saw me enter.

"Best nights sleep I've had in a long time." I answered.

"Really? Because I can always get a second bed for Henry."

"Thanks but its find. The kind ends up in my bed most nights anyway."

"Isn't he a bit old for that?"

"Maybe, but I think its just an old habit. It's always been easier to stay at a place with one bed and we've gotten used to it by now. It's actually really hard to sleep without him next to me."

"Alright then if you are sue. So what's up with the book? Do you need me to read to another coma patient?" Mary cracked a smile.

I smiled back glad that Mary could joke even after all that happened yesterday.

"No don't worry nothing like that. Henry left me no choice but to ground him after that stunk he pulled yesterday. Problem is it's hard to ground a kid who doesn't do a whole lot. I figured the only way to get through to him was to take the book away. And I was wondering if you could hide is somewhere for me so that there is no temptations."

"Of course I can do that, but isn't taking the book a bit harsh?"

"Maybe, but the kid has been gloating ever since we got to town and I don't want it to get any worse. My son is not turning into one of those stupid self-centered boys." I had dated one too many of them in my past and I would never allow Henry to become like that.

"You know you're a really good mother Emma." Mary told me.

"Thanks?" I was a little confused about where that came from.

"What I mean is not many people would do what you have done for Henry."

With those final words Mary took the book from my hands and carried it off into her bedroom to hide it. I headed towards the cabinets to grab a mug, I needed some coffee.

"Do you want me to make you something for breakfast?" Mary asked walking back into the kitchen.

"No thanks, I think I'm going to stick with a bowl of cereal for now. And advice don't ask Henry that question. That kid is a bottomless pit and will eat through your kitchen if you let him. Its best to just put food in front of him and not give him a choice, he's not picky." I needed to make sure to tell Mary all of Henry and mine's little quirks so she wouldn't be surprised by anything we did.

"Good to know." Mary laughed, at least she wasn't scared off yet. "So do you have any big plans for the day?"

"Well now that Henry and I have a place to stay I have to end the lease on our old place and find a way to get all of our stuff here."

"You don't plan on going back to Boston to collect your things?"

"No too much work and not enough stuff." I shrugged.

"If you need any help let me know, especially when it comes to Henry."

"Thanks."

I had never had someone to offer me help, or at least offer and really mean it. Plenty of people had said they would help me, and more often then not they would bail out on me when I needed a favor. I also didn't trust a lot of people with my son, not that anyone wanted to help with the two a.m. feedings or sick nights. But I knew when Mary said she would help me she really would come through. I don't know what made me trust her so much since we hadn't know her for that long. There was just something about her that made her so trustworthy, or it was just my subconscious believing Henry's theory that Mary is my mother. I'm not really sure which reason I liked better.

I turned my head towards the stairs when I heard a creaking sound. It sounded like the kid was finally getting out of bed. Sure enough Henry appeared at the bedroom door his eyes half open and hair askew.

"Morning kid." I greeted.

Henry moaned back still not all the way awake. Now that the excitement was gone he was slow to wake up. So while he was coming down the stairs I got him breakfast. He would wake up more once he had some food in him. The cereal bowl was placed in front of him as soon as he sat down at the counter. I quickly stole a kiss before he was awake enough to fight me off.

"Did you sleep well Henry?" Mary asked.

He just nodded his head and slowly kept eating.

"Sorry we can be a bit slow to wake up." I apologized to Mary. "You look like you can sleep another ten years kid." I joked turning to Henry, "I guess you really needed a bed."

Again he just nodded his head and kept eating. Now that we had an actual apartment and bed to sleep in his normal sleep schedule would be put back in place immediately. He really needed every minute to function properly, plus it probably wasn't healthy for him not to get the recommended amount. I knew that the conversation would be one sided I figured I might as well get everything I needed to tell him now.

"I'm going to work on getting rid of our apartment and getting our stuff. I was thinking that you could stay with Mary…"

"You're leaving me!" Henry said shocked and dropped his spoon in the bowl.

Now that woke him up. Instantly a worried look appeared on his face and the tears were threatening to form. Henry and I had never been apart over night, another reason I was not going to Boston. There had only been one time that I left Henry with a babysitter over night when he had been really young. I ended up getting a desperate call from the babysitter and it broke my heart when I heard the kid wailing in the background. I had no choice but to come home. It had taken me hours to calm Henry down and promise him that I would never leave him again.

I guess that one night was enough to scar him from being without me over night. It was another thing that probably wasn't age appropriate and this one did worry me. I would have to remember at Henry's next session to bring it up to Archie. He would know what to do to help the kid and not make him feel bad.

"No kid nothing like that." I grabbed his face in between my hands and made him look at me. "I'm going to do everything over the phone so I don't have to leave you."

"You promise?"

"I promise so don't worry." I gave him a kiss on the forehead before letting him go. "Now finish eating and I'll explain what will happen."

Henry nodded his head more enthusiastically and picked his spoon back up.

"As I said before, I am going to be on the phone most of the day. I figured you and Mary could hang out until I was done."

I looked at Mary for approval since I never asked her to watch the kid today.

"Yeah you and I will have lots of fun today." Mary chimed in and I let out a relieved sigh.

"Okay!" Henry smiled.

"Not too much fun, don't forget you're still grounded kid."

"I know." He sighed.

"Don't worry Henry I'll find us something to do." Mary winked at Henry.

"Now go wash up and get ready for the day."

Henry jumped off the stool and took his bowl to the sink before heading into the bathroom.

"Sorry I threw Henry on you like that." I apologized to Mary once the kid was out of earshot.

"No don't worry about it, I'm looking forward to spending time with him outside of the classroom."

"Are you sure?" I asked sounding like she did earlier.

"Yes, we are going to be fine so stop worrying."

"If you sure."

"I am. Now go get dressed and make those calls. The sooner you finish the sooner the three of us can do something fun together."

"Thanks." I decided to take Mary's advice.

I headed back upstairs to get dressed. She was right, I had a kid and friend to get back to once I was finished with my chores. What more motivation did I need?


End file.
